Broadcom shakes up VMware licensing structure in collaboration with Google Cloud

Broadcom and Google Cloud have announced plans to support license portability of VMware Cloud Foundation to Google Cloud VMware engine, marking a move towards increased flexibility for customers. 

Customers who have purchased VMware Cloud Foundation software through Broadcom will soon be able to use their subscriptions on both the Google Cloud VMware Engine, as well as within their own on-premises data centers.

On top of the ability to bring pre-purchased VMware licenses to Google Cloud, new customers will also have the option to purchase a fully-integrated Google Cloud VMware Engine environment directly from Google.

“VMware by Broadcom is adding new levels of flexibility, investment protection and lower TCO for VMware Cloud Foundation with support for license portability,” said Krish Prasad, the general manager of the VMware Cloud Foundation division.

“By running VMware Cloud Foundation on Google Cloud VMware Engine, customers benefit from a highly efficient cloud operating model that provides the scale and agility of public cloud with the security and performance of private cloud,” he added.

The move is set to bolster the channel and improve customer experience in a few key areas.

A simplification of infrastructure will allow customers to migrate virtual machines and workloads to Google cloud without much hassle, in turn, increasing access to Google’s networking architecture.

Customers can continue managing cloud-based resources with familiar VMware tools and resources while, at the same time, gaining access to native containerized applications.

This will help to streamline operations through a unified Google Cloud experience that offers integrated identity and access management (IAM) and speedy self-service provisions.

By scaling workloads into Google Cloud and only paying for utilized resources, businesses could also benefit from a reduction in operational costs, while the collaboration will also allow customers to leverage improved security and reliability.

As with most announcements at the moment, there’s also a nod to artificial intelligence (AI). Google Cloud will provide access to its data insight capabilities, bolstered by AI and machine learning applications.

“As the first public cloud partner to announce plans to support VMware Cloud Foundation license portability, Google Cloud remains committed to improving the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of our customers’ cloud migration and digital transformation initiatives,” said Mark Lohmeyer, vice president and general manager, Compute and ML Infrastructure at Google Cloud.

“Through this model, our customers can realize the unique benefits of Google Cloud VMware Engine, such as four 9’s cluster-level uptime, deeply integrated networking and a unified Google experience along with the full portfolio of Google Cloud services across AI/ML, data analytics, security, and more,” he added.

The collaboration is set to be made publicly available in the second quarter of 2024.